Head Start centers in Hernando, Sumter, Volusia will remain open next week

BROOKSVILLE — Seventeen Head Start centers in Hernando, Sumter and Volusia counties that planned to close on Monday because of the federal government shutdown will stay open next week.

Mid-Florida Community Services will dip into its line of credit to keep them open, executive director Michael Georgini said Friday. The private, nonprofit agency runs the centers and should have been able to start drawing from its annual $10.8 million federal grant Tuesday, the day the shutdown began.

It costs about $200,000 each week to operate the centers, which provide services to 924 children in the three counties, including 264 in Hernando. Georgini said he may have another funding source lined up — he declined to go into detail — that could buy the centers even more time if Congress and President Barack Obama don't reach an agreement by next weekend.

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